CHAPTER 6 – THE MAN BEHIND REBECCA
CHAPTER 6 – THE MAN BEHIND REBECCA
The following morning, the FBI established a command center inside Carter Global Headquarters.
Every conference room had become an investigation unit.
Maps covered the walls.
Photos of missing children.
Financial flowcharts.
Evidence boards.
Daniel hadn't slept.
Neither had the agents.
The deeper they searched...
The darker everything became.
An analyst hurried toward FBI Director Helen Brooks.
"Ma'am."
"We found something."
"What?"
"The money."
She studied the screen.
Every illegal payment ultimately disappeared into one private investment company.
The name stunned the room.
Black Ridge Capital.
Daniel frowned.
"I've never heard of it."
Helen nodded.
"That's because it officially doesn't exist."
Financial records showed hundreds of shell corporations.
Fake charities.
Ghost hospitals.
Fraudulent funeral homes.
Everything led back to the same hidden organization.
Someone had built a business out of disappearing children.
Then...
Daniel's chief of security rushed inside.
"Sir."
"We identified the bearded man."
Everyone turned.
A photograph appeared on the screen.
Dr. Michael Graves.
Former pediatric surgeon.
Declared dead seven years earlier in a boating accident.
Daniel narrowed his eyes.
"So he's alive."
Helen answered quietly.
"And working for them."
Another agent interrupted.
"We've decrypted one of Rebecca's hard drives."
The room fell silent.
The screen displayed a single folder.
PROJECT PHOENIX
Inside...
Names.
Hundreds of wealthy families.
Each file ranked by net worth.
Insurance coverage.
Inheritance value.
Children's ages.
Daniel felt ice spread through his veins.
"This wasn't random."
"No."
Helen agreed.
"They targeted rich families."
"They staged deaths."
"They hid children."
"They stole trust funds."
"They extorted relatives."
"They controlled inheritances."
Everything suddenly fit.
Rebecca hadn't wanted Daniel's company.
She wanted access to Ethan's billion-dollar inheritance.
As Ethan's legal guardian after his "death," she had quietly taken control of trusts, investments, and foundation accounts.
Only Ethan surviving had ruined the plan.
An alarm suddenly echoed through headquarters.
BEEP!
BEEP!
BEEP!
A cybersecurity officer shouted,
"Someone's inside our network!"
Every monitor flickered.
Then...
Every screen displayed the same image.
A black phoenix.
Below it...
A live video feed appeared.
A man sat in darkness.
Only his silhouette was visible.
His voice was calm.
Almost pleasant.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Carter."
Daniel stepped closer.
"Who are you?"
The man chuckled.
"Rebecca worked for me."
Every FBI agent reached for a notebook.
"My name doesn't matter."
"But you've just destroyed twenty years of work."
Daniel's eyes hardened.
"I'm going to destroy the rest."
The man smiled.
"I expected you'd say that."
He snapped his fingers.
The camera zoomed outward.
Daniel's blood froze.
The room behind the stranger contained rows of children.
At least thirty.
All alive.
All frightened.
Some no older than four.
Others teenagers.
The man spoke softly.
"You've recovered one child."
"I still have dozens."
Gasps filled the command center.
"You call the FBI."
"I move them."
"You chase one lead."
"I erase three."
Daniel's fists tightened.
"What do you want?"
The man leaned forward.
"I want my property back."
"Ethan isn't property."
"He is to me."
The connection suddenly glitched.
Before the signal disappeared...
A little girl in the background looked directly into the camera.
She screamed one sentence that echoed through the silent room.
"Please tell my mommy I'm still alive!"
The screen went black.
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Helen Brooks slowly turned toward Daniel.
"This just became the biggest rescue operation of our careers."
Daniel looked once at Ethan, sleeping peacefully in a secure room beyond the glass.
Then he looked back at the blank monitor.
His voice was steady.
"Find him."
May you like
"Because this doesn't end with saving my son."
"It ends when every child goes home."
